USING WORDPRESS: HOW TO CREATE A STATIC PAGE

So you’re new to using WordPress and have started writing blog post with the help of my how-to guide here, but now you would like to create some static pages.

WHAT IS A STATIC PAGE?

Static Pages (or Pages) are similar to Posts in that they have a title, body text, and associated metadata, but they are different in that they are not part of the chronological blog stream, kind of like permanent posts. Pages are not categorised or tagged, but can have a hierarchy. You can nest Pages under other Pages by making one the “Parent” of the other, creating a group of Pages.

Examples of static pages include About Page, Contact Page, Press Page, Work with Me Page or any other content you may need.

HOW TO CREATE A STATIC PAGE:

Click for Larger Image

Creating a static page is actually very easy. Here’s how:

1. Login to your WordPress account

2. Got to Pages > Add New

3. A new page will open. On that new page add your post title in the Page Title section.

4. The large box below is where you add all your content (text and images) for your blog post. See this previous post for more instructions on adding images etc.

5. To format your text, use the formatting tools at the top of the content box. If you don’t have all the options, click the icon at number 5.

6. Once you have finished creating the text and images for the content of your static, scroll down the page to the WordPress SEO by Yoastsection. This plugin needs to be installed before this section will appear. In the Focus Keyword section, enter the main phrase that you think people might use to search for the content of this page. The plugin will then tell you where you are missing these keywords on your page. Add the keywords into the sections you need to. The SEO Title is the title that will come up for your page when someone does a search in any search engine like Google. The Meta Description is the little preview description that appears under this title. Rewrite these if you need to so that the keywords are used and it is enticing for readers to click though. When finished double-check you have used the keywords in all areas. Sometimes the Page Title won’t recognise the keywords until the page is published. Feel free to investigate the other options on the tabs of this little section.

7. If the Discussion section is not appearing on your page, click the Screen Options (7a) tab and tick the Discussion option and the section should appear. This is where you can choose if readers can leave comments on this page or not. I would recommend not allowing comments on static pages, only blog posts, so that readers are encouraged to contact you directly for questions regarding your press information, or about section etc. Simply untick these boxes to remove the comments and pingbacks for this page.

8. Depending on what plugins you have installed, this section may not be on your page. If it is, you can use it to decide whether you want the social sharing buttons to appear on this page or not. If you want readers to be sharing the content on this page via social media, then keep the box ticked, if not, untick it.

9. Scroll toFeatured Image and add an image that best represents the page visually. This is used by social media, search engines and sometimes your blog layout as a main image for this page, so always make sure you add a featured image.

10. Page Attributes allow you to choose how your page is displayed based on your theme’s settings. You can choose to make the page you are creating a “child” or sub page of another page. For example you might have your About Page as the Parent page and then have your Contact Page as a child page. You can create those settings here. In the Template section the different pre-set page display options for your theme will be listed. You may choose to remove the sidebar from this page, or perhaps select a different page template here. Pages are usually ordered alphabetically, but you can choose your own order by entering a number (1 for first, etc.) in the Order field.

11. If you have the Shareaholic plugin installed, you can choose your settings for this page here. I would recommend removing your pages from the Related Content part of your blog, so only blog posts appear there.

12. The jQuery Pin It Button for Images is a great plugin that allows you at add a Pin It button to your images on hover to make it easy for readers to pin your images to Pinterest. It even allows you to upload and use a custom image. This box allows you to turn off the Pin It function for images on this page if you need to.

13. Now you are ready to Preview your page to see if everything is appearing as it should and if you are happy with it. Do this by clicking the Preview button.

14. If you are happy with your page, but need to come back at another time to add more information, you can save your page as a Draft with the Save Draft button.

15. There are a few options to consider before clicking Publish:

Status. This will let you know if your page is still a draft (never published), has been published and when. If you ever want a published page to not appear on your blog anymore, but don’t want to delete it, come here and change the status back to draft, then click update.

Visibility. You shouldn’t really ever have a need to do anything with the settings here.

Publish. This is where you can choose to either publish your page immediately, or to schedule it to publish at a later time. To schedule a page, click “edit”, fill in the details for when you would like the page to be published and then click “ok”. Then when you are finished creating your page, click the Publish button.

If you are unsure of the meaning of some of the words and phrases used in this post, check out the Blogging Glossary for definitions.

Founder of Kaleidoscope - facets of blogging, womanhood and life, Amanda is on a heart-led quest to create a savvy resource for the modern day woman — a one-stop-shop overflowing with real life, been-there-done-that wisdom and curated inspiration.